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McIlroy knew Justin Thomas was a Rome lock for the Ryder Cup. Instead of agreeing that Thomas is like Ian Poulter, he thinks he’s a Sergio Garcia.
Rory McIlroy has long since been known for speaking his mind. Prior to last month’s Ryder Cup, McIlroy relayed to Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz what he thought about the controversial Justin Thomas Ryder Cup pick.
He joined them on their Golf.com podcast, Subpar, to discuss various topics.
Knost has openly said in the past that Thomas reminded him of Ian Poulter.
Poulter is known as an American killer in Ryder Cups.
He used that to explain why the former Crimson Tide golfer should be on that Ryder Cup team. Thomas has so much passion and love for Ryder Cups and team events it’s hard to exclude him.
In years past, Poulter was selected as a captain’s pick when he might not have warranted the selection. However, but no one batted an eye because of his excellent play in Ryder Cups.
But McIlroy clearly holds Thomas to even higher regard.
“I think comparing JT to Ian Poulter does JT a little bit of a disservice in terms of their CVs and their careers and everything,” McIlroy said. “If you’re going to compare him to someone on the European team over the years is probably Sergio [Garcia], just in terms of that fire, that passion, and obviously the resume that he has is as an individual as well.”
Why didn’t Thomas receive the same treatment? He was 6-2-1 in Ryder Cups in the two before this year. Thomas helped the Americans destroy the Europeans in 2021 at Whistling Straits, and captain Zach Johnson went with the experience he brought.
“I thought the whole JT thing was completely — I felt the conversation around it was completely unjustified,” McIlroy said. “Being a European and knowing that I have to fear some of these guys. Honestly, there’s other guys on that team I’d rather face than JT. So knowing that as a European, to me, it was a no-brainer.”
McIlroy was proven right. Thomas, alongside Max Homa and Patrick Cantlay, were really the only players to stand out and consistently play well throughout the deflating weekend.
The Europeans defeated Team USA 16.5 to 11.5, but it felt much worse than the score indicated.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
